Opening and cleaning machine for fibrous materials



J n 1952 s. M. FREEMAN ET AL OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE FOR FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed Dec. 5, 1946 FIG./

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SYDNEY M. F EEMN'ZA RTaun 1mm BY A ToRN EA;

Patented June 24, 1952 OPENING AND CLEANING MACHINE FOR FIBROUS MATERIALS Sydney Maurice Freeman and Arthur Linnert, Didsbury, Manchester, England, as'signors to The British Cotton Industry Research Asso- -=ciation, Didsbury, Manchester, England, a British association Application December 5, 1946, Serial No. 714,222

In Great Britain December 4, 1945 i This invention relates to machines for opening and cleaning fibrous materials, in which the material is opened by a beater and conveyed by suction to acage or'pair of cages. The invention is particularly applicable to those machines in which, in place of the more usual bladed or spiked beater, use is made ot a fine-toothed beater of the licker-intype and having a cylindrical foundation surface, and the customary grid below the beater is dispensed with. As is known. in such machines, a degree of openness can be obtai ed such that the cage suction is adequate to arry the material forward without the support of a grid, the high degree of opening and absence of the grid resulting in improved cleaning.

The object of this invention is to increase the efficiency of opening and cleaning machines, particulariy those of the type just referred-to, by improvements in the arrangements for collecting the fibrous material from the space below the beater where'the separation of trash occurs, and conveying it to the suction cage or cages. In the customary type of machine where a pair of cages is used the upper surface of the beater is provided with a closely fitting coverextending, in-

the case ,of a pedal feed. from the feed roller to astripping edge very roughly diametrically oppo site the feed system, while from this stripping edge there extends a sheet forming the upper boundary of the region where the cage suction operates to convey the material, stripped from the heater, to the cages, this sheet finally terminating in pneumatically sealed contact with the upper cage or merging into a closely fitting cover for the upper cage.

According to the invention an opening and cleaning machine of the kind comprising a rotary beater, means for feeding the material to be opened to the beater and means for collecting the I opened material consisting of a suction cage and a passage leading from the periphery of the beater to the cage is characterised in that the said passage includes a substantial space volume above the beater. v

The improved machine aforesaid may be further characterised in that the said space volume extends substantially to the region of feeding of the material to the beater; or in that the lower boundary of the passage provides a. substantial space volume below the beater; or in that the edge of the lower boundary of the passage adiacent to the periphery of the beater is adjustable radially and/or circumferentially of the beater.

According to one embodiment of the present 8 Claims. (on. 19-89) invention the stripping edge and beater cover are dispensed with, and by means of a specially designed cover a considerable space above the beater is incorporatedinto the region where the cage suction operates. One form of such cover consists of a sheet extending vertically from the feed roller to a point some inches over the level of the highest point of .the beater surface, and then bending horizontally and extending to-the upper cage-where it merges into a closely fitting cover of the usual type. i

with a cover of this type practically perfect stripping is obtained owing to the large extent of the beater surface over which centrifugal force operates to throw oil. the material into the region where the cage suction operates. Air inletsto the space above the beater may be provided for example by leaving a narrow gap between the cover and the feed roller. According to a further feature of the embodiment of the invention there is provided a lower boundary to the region between the beater and the cages, in the form of a sheet extending from a point on the lower cage near the nip of the cages, to a point just under the lower surface of the beater;' and means are provided for varying the position of the leading edge of this sheet as regards both the distance from the beater surface and the positions along the arc of the surface. From this leading edge the sheet. is preferably made to diverge immediately from the surface of the beater.

According to a still further feature of the embodiment of the invention, means are adopted to minimise external irregularities in the stream of material passing to the cages. These means comprise a series of longitudinal vanes or blades extending downwards from the cover and thus dividing the region adjacent to the cover into a series of longitudinal channels. These vanes extend downwards so that over the beater they come within a short distance from it, while they extend longitudinally from the rearward part of the cover. near the feed region, to within a short distance from the upper cage. Preferably use is made of blades of wedge-shaped section widest where they are fixed to the cover and narrowing downwards to a blunt edge, thus providing a series of longitudinal channelsnarrowing in an upward direction.

In the application of the invention to the special type of machine referred to above, in which a grid is dispensed with, use is preferably made of a pedal feed, and immediately below it a member of the type described in iatent No. 2,403,384

so di posed that the material and trash struck from the feed pass through the gap between the edge of this membr and the surface of the heater and are projected into the space below the feed system and contiguous portion of the beater,

trash being deposited and the fibrous material with a certain amount of light dust being carried forward by the suction of the cages.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side diagram and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective detail of one example of the invention.

Figs. land 2 show the, application of the invention to a machine for opening and cleaning in which raw cotton is fed from a travelling lattice through a pedal feed of the well-known tandem" type to a fine-toothed beater and thence drawn by air suction to a pair of cages, after which it may be dealt with in any known manner, for example formed into a lap or delivered into a suitable receptacle. 1

In Fig. 1, a feed lattice l' delivers the cotton through compression rollers 2 to a tandem pedal feed 3 of which 3 is the feed roller; the material then coming under the action of the beater 4 which is provided with fine teeth 4 A cover 5 extends over the beater, leaving a considerable free space above it, and extending to the upper suction cage 8. A portion 5 of this cover is situated above the roller 3 and is bolted through slots to a vertical portion 5 so as to leave a gap of adjustable width above the roller 3 Above the portion 5 the cover is shaped to form a sloping portion 5 and after that a horizontal portion 5 and this is continued in an upwardly sloping portion 5 to form a cover of usual type for the upper cage 6.

A number of longitudinal vanes I of wedge shaped section having blunt edges 1 pointing downwards are fixed along part of their upper faces 1 to the horizontal portion 5 of the cover 5. These vanes are shaped at one end to fit flush against the sloping portion 5 of the cover 5, and at the other end they extend beyond the portion 5* to near the periphery of the upper cage 6.

A sheet 8 forms the lower boundary of the region where the cage suction operates to convey the cotton forward from the beater 4. The forward portion 8 of this sheet extends to the lower suction cage 6 making contact with it through a leather flap 8 This portion is fixed to arms 8 which pivot on a shaft 8 which runs across the machine and is held in the frame sides. The rearward portion 8 of the sheet 8 converges towards the surface of the beater 4 and terminates in the leading edge 8 This portion has fixed to it at each side of the machine a slotted member 8 which is bolted to the frame side through a slot 8 in it, a sealing plate 8 being provided to prevent the ingress of air. The slot in the frame side is collinear with the shaft 8 and together with the slot 8 allows of the required arc-wise and radial adjustment of the leading edge 8. The portions 8 and 8 of the cover 8 are adjustably bolted together along regions which are plane or conforming in curvature. To avoid protuberances on the upper faces of the plate 8 which might entangle the cotton, the portion 8 is fitted above the portion 8 and screwed studs are welded on the underface of 8 and slots provided in the portion 8 The portion 83 carries a downwardly extending sheet 8 which forms one wall of the dust chamber below the beater and to allow for the small motion involved in the adjustment of the leading edge 8, the sheet may make contact with the floor of the dust chamber through a leather flap.

In conclusion, as is well known, in the operation of cleaning machines wherein a. rotary beater having a substantially cylindrical foundation surface is fitted with a close-fitting cover the fan action of the beater results in the development of very high air pressure in the region between the heater and cover. In point of fact, a pressure gradient is created in such a way that the highest pressure under normal conditions is built up very nearto the feeding-in device, and it is such high pressures at this point which give rise tomany difficulties heretofore encountered in the operation of machines such as those herein referred to. Among such difliculties are the following:

1. The beater is not stripped of its cotton in time to prevent some of said cotton being carried around for more than a complete revolution, with consequent incomplete stripping of the beater.

2. Collection of cotton at the beater end, resulting in overheating of the bearings.

3. Blowing down of lint into the trash chamber below the beater.

4. Blowing out of cotton at the feed, which can completely disorganize the working of the machine.

On the other hand, applicants have discovered that by employing a cover of the construction herein described and placing such cover at a suitable distance from the beater, the air pressure between the beater and the cover is considerably reduced and as a result thereof all of the dim-- culties above enumerated are entirely overcome.

We declare that what we claim is:

1. An opening and cleaning machine for fibrous materials, comprising a high speed rotary drum-like saw-toothed beater, means for feeding the fibrous material to the beater, a collecting chamber including upper and lower covers which at one end partially embrace the beater, one of said covers partially closing any entry for air to the chamber in advance of the feed, and the other cover partially closing any entry for air to the chamber after the feed, and a suction cage at the opposite end of the chamber for receiving the fibrous material from the beater, said secondmentioned cover being sufiiciently close to the beater and the first-mentioned cover being so shaped and spaced away from the beater that the suction cage can produce a condition of less than atmospheric pressure in the chamber including a zone extending against the said firstmentioned cover to the region of feed so as to permit air carried round by the beater at its periphery and checked at the feed by the incoming material, to return within the chamber against such first-mentioned cover to the suction cage, said second-mentioned cover converging toward the periphery of the beater thereby to provide an expanding or volute-shaped space in the chamber.

2. An opening and cleaning machine according to claim 1, further characterized in that the edge of the said second-mentioned'cover adjacent to the periphery of the beater is adjustable radially of the beater.

3. An opening and cleaning machine according to claim 1, further characterized in that the edge of the said second-mentioned cover adjacent to the periphery of the heater is adjustable circumferentially of the beater.

4. An opening and cleaning machine according to claim 1, the edge of said second-mentioned 7 r cover adjacent to the periphery of the beater being adjustable radially and circumierentially or the beater.

5. An opening and cleaning machine for fibrous materials, comprising a high speed rotary drum-like saw-toothed beater, means for feeding the fibrous material to the beater, a collecting chamber including upper and lower covers which at one end partially embrace the beater, one of said covers partially closing any entry for air to the chamber in advance of the feed and the other cover partially closing any entry for air to the chamber after the feed, and a suction cage at the opposite end of the chamber for receiving the fibrous material from the beater, said secondmentioned cover being sufliciently close to the beater and the first-mentioned cover being so shaped and spaced away from the beater that the suction cage can produce a condition of less than atmospheric pressure in the chamber including a zone extending against the said first-mentioned cover to the region of feed so as to permit air carried round by the beater at its periphery and checked at the feed by the incoming material. to return within the chamber against such firstvmentioned cover to the suction cage, the edge of the said second cover adjacent to the periphery of the beater being adjustable relative to the beater.

6. An opening and cleaning machine according to claim 5, further characterized in that the edge of the said second cover is adjustable radially of the beater.

7. An opening and cleaning machine according to claim 5, further characterized in that the edge of the said second cover is adjustable circumferentially of the heater.

8. An opening and cleaning machine according to claim 5, further characterized in that the edge of the said second cover is adjustable circumferentially and radially of the beater.

SYDNEY MAURICE FREEMAN. ARTHUR LINNERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

